Saturday, March 21, 2009

A Beautiful Goodbye

Poetic. Poignant. Very nearly perfect.

(Beware- spoilers in this post, so if you care, stop now.)

I'll admit it - I was a bit concerned over the last few weeks when I was watching Battlestar and wondering how on earth Ron Moore was going to wind it up. There seemed to be SO MUCH ground to cover. So many questions unanswered. And really really afraid that after investing so much admiration in the writing and the cast and the production and just all of it for nearly 6 years, that I would be let down.

I should have known I would not be let down.

The evening started with a SPACE special called "The Last Frakkin' Special" which focused on the writers, production, and the cast, all sharing special moments or thoughts. I will admit - when the last shot is of Tahmoh Penikett leaving the set, I sniffled. I hate that it's over. And yet glad that in the end they went out on their own terms, with a real ending.

Then the epi itself. And in 2 hours they had it all. They had action, special affects, character arcs...all of it. Perhaps one of the BEST resolutions was the role of Gaius Baltar (James Callis) who wept in the end and showed that he did actually have good qualities and he made the choice to use them. I cried at the resolution for Adama and Roslin; I was afraid Helo wasn't going to make it and loved that ending, and I was sad for Tyrol and for Sam, whose last words as a hybrid were to Kara, saying "See you on the other side."

The one thread that didn't satisfy me was Lee's arc. Because I felt he'd earned it. I have always been a Lee/Kara shipper so even though I understand the WHY behind that ending, it made me sad. (May I also add a superficial HOORAY for Jamie Bamber's longer, lighter hair in this epi, because he was just Scrummy and thank god for Law and Order UK.)

I would imagine there are those that feel that explaining some of the things as taken on faith and angels is a cop out. While I can see how they would feel that way, I don't. This show has always had a religious element and taking a lot on faith and I thought employing that was brave and really interesting and even elevating the whole idea to another level.

And it truly resonated. At the very beginning, as far back as the miniseries, we know that "This has all happened before; it will all happen again." We also are told that "Life here began out there." This vibrated through the whole show, like a tuning fork. And it led us right into the last five minutes.

The best part are those few minutes: 150,000 years later. I cannot stop thinking about it. We know suddenly what is so important about Hera, we see Earth - today - and how utterly flawed we are. We see science blended with spiritual and I cannot escape the idea that we haven't really learned anything at all. Some of the very best moments of BSG have been when the show has put a mirror up to our society...and this did that in SPADES. It has had everything - high stakes, love stories, character arcs, good and evil, a whole lot of grey area, a mythical structure, and a social relevance as well as damn good entertainment.

I am sad it is over, but so very happy I was along for the ride. Ron Moore, you are one courageous, brilliant dude. Thank you for the gift that was Battlestar Galactica.